Juneteenth National Independence Day Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. DAVIDSON. Madam Speaker, the bill before us rightly commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, announcing the end of the Civil War, and the formal end of slavery. It is effectively freedom day for the last enslaved Americans.
Of course, that was only in law. In practice, America failed to secure the blessings of liberty for those formerly enslaved Americans. Instead, when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the assassin effectively muted reconstruction.
Leaders, like Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, rightly called for a much more aggressive reconstruction, but he failed to persuade his colleagues. The long struggle in defense of freedom is part of America's history.
At our founding, in the Declaration of Independence, our Founders eloquently stated that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Winning the revolution offered the potential for leaders like John Adams to rightly persuade their colleagues to end slavery, but they failed. Their failure set the stage for the Civil War, and the failure to complete reconstruction meant 100 years of Jim Crow, and separate but equal, that continued into my dad's lifetime.
America's failure to rightly recognize our painful and often unjust history has meant ongoing division, open wounds that continue to fester.
So, today, let us not fail to persuade our colleagues. Let us recognize this holiday. I mean, it should, however, be known as Freedom Day or simply Juneteenth, not National Independence Day, which recognizes the Declaration, not freedom, but the Declaration of Independence. I hope we can correct that in the future, but let's not allow perfect to become the enemy of this good bill, and I urge its passage.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib), a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
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